Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki made the declaration at a news conference on Wednesday, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.
Morawiecki said: “We are not putting forward our candidates for the commission yet because lawmakers will adopt amendments proposed by President Andrzej Duda to the law which governs the commission."
The Polish prime minister added: “We’ll put forward our candidates when parliament approves these presidential amendments.”
Mateusz Morawiecki. PAP/Radek Pietruszka
'Who succumbed to Russian influence and in what way'
Asked if the panel would begin by hearing testimony from former Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who is the leader of the country’s largest opposition party, the Civic Platform (PO), Morawiecki replied: “President Duda has proposed certain changes to the commission’s powers and we agree with these changes. We don’t want anyone to think that the commission is designed to target any specific person.”
Morawiecki told reporters that “the aim of the commission is simply to demonstrate who succumbed to Russian influence and in what way, or who took inappropriate action.”
“The only intention is to let the public see what action was taken,” he added.
EU commissioner 'not too familiar with our Polish reality': PM
Morawiecki also commented on the words of the European Union’s Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, who told the European Parliament earlier on Thursday that Poland’s “new law on the state committee for the examination of Russian interference …violates the principle of democracy.”
The Polish prime minister said: “Commissioner Reynders is not too familiar with our Polish reality. I prefer to think so, rather than to suppose that he is, and is supporting the opposition.”
Morawiecki told reporters that Poland’s Minister for European Affairs, Szymon Szynkowski vel Sęk, “spoke to Commissioner Reynders and addressed any doubts” raised about the law.
New Polish law 'violates the principle of democracy': EU commissioner
Earlier on Wednesday, during the European Parliament’s plenary session on “the electoral law, the investigative committee and the rule of law in Poland,” Reynders said: “The new law on the state committee for the examination of Russian interference in the internal security of Poland in the period 2007-2022 … grants significant powers to this administrative body and in particular to start investigations, to organise public hearings, to qualify certain persons as having taken decisions under Russian influence, and to take so-called remedial measures against those persons.”
He warned: “This could be used to unduly interfere with the democratic process."
Reynders noted that the European Commission on June 8 decided to open an infringement procedure against Poland.
Reynders said that, according to the Commission, “the new law violates the principle of democracy as well as the principle of legality and non-retroactivity of sanctions” and that “Poland is being given 21 calendar days to reply to the letter of formal notice.”
'We have already seen some moves in Poland about the legislation'
Reynders told European lawmakers: “I’ve continued to exchange with the Polish government and I would like to inform you that … now there are a series of amendments tabled to the Polish parliament to change this law.”
He added that the EU executive has "already seen some moves in Poland about the legislation” to allay concerns over the powers of the Russian influence probe, the PAP news agency reported.
'In Poland, the rule of law is not being violated': ex-PM
Meanwhile, Beata Szydło, a Polish MEP with the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party and a former prime minister, emphatically rejected Reynders’ criticism of Poland’s new law to investigate Russian influence in domestic politics.
Szydło told the European Parliament: “In Poland, the rule of law is not being violated. There is no such problem.”
'Poland was not, is not and will never be your whipping boy'
Addressing Reynders directly, Szydło said: “I have only one thing to say to the European Commission: Poland was not, is not and will never be your whipping boy. Poland will not be terrorised by your attacks and punishments.”
The former Polish prime minister added: “It is Poland that will uphold the European Treaties and wants Europe to develop in accordance with the Treaties.”
Polish president signs law to investigate Russian influence
On May 29, the Polish president said that he had approved a law establishing a special panel to investigate Russian influence in domestic politics.
Duda approved the measure after it passed parliament on May 26 on a final vote of 234 to 219, with one abstention, the PAP news agency reported.
The president, who is an ally of Poland's conservative government, told reporters at the time that he had "no doubt that the issue of Russian influence needs explaining."
The US State Department and the European Union have since expressed concerns about the Polish law, which has caused a public outcry.
Critics have said it violates the Polish constitution and could keep government opponents from holding public office and block opposition candidates in an election due in the autumn, the AP news agency has reported.
President proposes tweaks to probe
On June 2, Duda proposed an amendment to the controversial law, saying that the new commission of inquiry should not include lawmakers or have power to ban anyone from holding public office.
Duda said he was sending amendments to parliament because he was aware of the domestic and international criticism surrounding the law proposed by Poland's governing party.
He called on lawmakers to “approve them as soon as possible.”
No lawmakers on Russian influence panel, easier appeals, no bans
Duda told reporters he was proposing to "amend the law in three ways."
First, the “commission for investigating Russian influence on Poland's internal security between 2007 and 2022” should not include MPs and senators, he said.
Second, the commission’s decisions should be appealable to common courts rather than administrative ones, which can only determine a decision’s legality, he added.
“Additionally, to dispel any doubts, a person investigated by the commission would be allowed to lodge an appeal with their local appeals court, so that cases are not necessarily judged by the Appeals Court in Warsaw,” Duda told the media.
Third, the commission would be stripped of the right to impose “counter-measures,” such as a ban on holding public office, a ban on access to state secrets or a ban on owning weapons, Duda also said.
The president told reporters: “Instead I propose that the commission be allowed to state that a person who has been found to be acting under Russian influence does not guarantee the proper performance of public duties."
'Transparency of the commission's proceedings'
Duda also said at the time that his amendments were designed to "strengthen the transparency of the commission's proceedings.”
He told reporters: “Apart from exceptional cases involving the highest state secrets, all the hearings of the commission would be open to the public.”
“For me, the most important thing ... is to ensure that the public ... has access to information,” the president added.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, launching the largest military campaign in Europe since World War II.
Wednesday is day 476 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP, audiovisual.ec.europa.eu